Problems with a Tyan Trinity 400 (s1854)

[Engr62]

I'm trying to put the following system together:

- Tyan Trinity 400 (s1854) motherboard (Bios version 1.07)
- P3 600EB (133 FSB) processor
- 128 Mb PC100 Dimm (generic - Cas 3) RAM
- Cirrus Logic 5446 2 Mb PCI video card
- Maxtor 3.5 Gb 5400 RPM hard drive
- Creative Labs 4x CD-ROM
- ATX case with a 250 watt PSU
- Window 98 SE

My wife is planning to use the system for word processing, spreadsheets, Quickbooks, web browsing (I didn't attempt to install the modem yet), and transferring data to/from her PDA so it doesn't need to be a screamer.

The memory settings in the CMOS are conservative (Cas 3, SDRAM 10ns, HCLK -33M). Win98SE installation follows a fresh formatting of the hard drive.

Here's the problem:

I'm able to boot the computer and install Windows 98 SE (partially). However, when it reboots the first time (from the hard drive instead of the CD-ROM) during the Win98SE installation process, the computer locks up just as some dialog box is about to display (I can see the outline of the dialog box, but it doesn't complete putting the dialog box up before it locks). This is supposed to be when the second installation screen comes up and collects data about your computer (when it says "Windows is starting for the first time..."). I've had basically this same configuration up and running in the past.

I tried switching the PCI video card out with a TNT2 Ultra AGP card I have lying around; however, with this card in, the computer hangs during the memory count up at boot up.

I tried starting over from scratch (reformatting, installing Win98SE) and got the exact same results.

Any thoughts? Also, if you think the motherboard may be fried, is there any store on the net that carries a VIA Apollo Pro 133A motherboard (Slot 1)?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. Nothing is overclocked.

 

[Engr62]

Any thoughts as to what the problem is would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Engr62]

Bump.

 

[Engr62]

Bump.

 

[Drakkhen]

Do you have any other memory that you can try in the machine as well?

 

[Buk]

>Double check your jumpers - JP10-off, JP11-on, JP12-off, JP13-on
>Make sure your CPU is seated all the way into th socket, wiggle it front to back a couple of times
>Enter setup and LOAD BIOS DEFAULTS
>Make sure VIDEO BIOS SHADOW is disabled (and all other shadowing as well)
>Set memory bank timing to NORMAL for all banks
>set DRAM Clock to HOST CLK and CPU CLOCK/SPREAD SPECTRUM to 100mhz/off (processor will be running at 4.5 x 100 and memory @ 100mhz also)
>Boot with a boot disk using CDROM support and copy the \win98 folder from the CD to a CABS folder on the HD. Install from the HD, not the CDROM.

I don't know if any of this might help but it is what I would try. Good luck................

 

[Engr62]

Thanks for the replies. I've tried different memory in the system with no difference in results. The thing is, I've used both of these sticks of memory in it before when it was up and running with no problems.

I haven't tried another processor in the board, so it may be the processor. Although, I'm kind of leaning towards thinking the motherboard has somehow gotten fried. It seems strange that, it counts up the memory O.K. with a PCI video card in it (although Windows won't finish installing correctly), but it won't finish the memory count as soon as I put an AGP video card in.

I recently tried out the set up in another case (with a 300 W power supply). Same results.

 

[Engr62]

Per Buk's suggestion, I tried setting the CPU CLOCK/SPREAD SPECTRUM to 100mhz/off (to run the processor at 4.5 x 100). When I tried this, the computer wouldn't even boot.

Does my problem sound like a power issue, since the memory count during boot-up doesn't even complete if I have an AGP card in it? Is there any diagnostic that can be run at some small computer shop that can measure the amount of power going to the AGP slot, PCI slots, or memory slots?

I really hate to just throw this mobo away; however, if I can find one for the right price, I'm looking for a replacement here.

 

[Aboroth]

I have a few of those boards at work. I don't know if this will help, but set the "AGP Driving Mode" (I think thats it) to "Auto" in the BIOS. When I tried using a Voodoo Banshee AGP card with the default setting Windows would freak out.

 

[Engr62]

Well, I finally got a chance to take a processor out of another working system, and tried it in this motherboard. As it turns out, my processor was what was bad.

My problems happened initially when I tried out a Voodoo3 3500 TV in this system. Can a video card do something to cause damage to the CPU? I'm kind of afraid to try the Voodoo3 3500 TV in another system now.